ISTANBUL: Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City, two of the leading candidates to win the Champions League, will face each other in the group stage of this season’s competition after coming out together in Thursday’s draw.
Pep Guardiola’s City beat PSG in the semifinals of last season’s Champions League on the way to losing the final to Chelsea in Porto.
Qatar-owned Paris responded to that disappointment by signing Lionel Messi and there is a chance that the two meetings of the clubs could see the Argentine come up against his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portuguese forward is being strongly linked with a move to Abu Dhabi-owned City from Juventus before the European transfer window closes on Tuesday, August 31.
The clubs are in Group A along with RB Leipzig and Belgian champions Club Brugge.
Leipzig were already in a group with PSG last season, the two sides qualifying for the last 16 ahead of Manchester United.
The Germans, who also lost to PSG in the 2020 semifinals in Lisbon, lost coach Julian Nagelsmann to Bayern Munich in the summer and replaced him with Jesse Marsch.
Holders Chelsea will play Juventus in Group H and both clubs will be expected to advance from a section also including Russian champions Zenit Saint Petersburg and Malmo.
The Swedish champions knocked out Rangers in the third qualifying round.
Saint Petersburg will host this season’s Champions League final on May 28 next year.
Thursday’s draw in Istanbul also saw Barcelona come out in a fascinating Group E along with Bayern Munich, Benfica and Ukrainian champions Dynamo Kiev.
For Barca it will be a first meeting with Bayern since they were humbled 8-2 by the German giants in Benfica’s Estadio da Luz in Lisbon in the quarter-finals a year ago.
Liverpool will face Spanish champions Atletico Madrid, meaning a return to the Wanda Metropolitano stadium where they beat Tottenham Hostpur in the 2019 final to win the European Cup for the sixth time.
Jurgen Klopp’s side will also play AC Milan and FC Porto in Group B. Milan are back in the Champions League for the first time since 2013/14.
Manchester United came out in Group F with Villarreal, Atalanta and Swiss champions Young Boys.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side lost to Villarreal on penalties in last season’s Europa League final.
The first round of group fixtures will be played on September 14 and 15.
PSG and Man City to meet in Champions League group stage
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PSG and Man City to meet in Champions League group stage
- PSG and Manchester City to face each other in group stage of this season's Champions League
- Thursday's draw in Istanbul saw Barcelona come out in a fascinating Group E along with Bayern Munich, Benfica and Dynamo Kiev
Sabalenka debuts engagement ring during Indian Wells win
- World number one sported the striking oval-cut diamond ring for the first time in competition after getting engaged to Georgios Frangulis late on Tuesday
INDIAN WELLS, California: Aryna Sabalenka’s performance in a 6-4 6-2 second-round win over Japan’s Himeno Sakatsume was not the only thing that dazzled at Indian Wells on Friday, with the world number one also showing off her shiny new engagement ring.
The 27-year-old sported the striking oval-cut diamond ring for the first time in competition after getting engaged to Georgios Frangulis late on Tuesday.
“It feels super comfortable and shiny,” she told reporters.
“We double-checked if there was a possibility to lose the diamond, and there was none. I was pretty confident wearing it, hoping it might even distract my opponent.”
Sabalenka, who has made the final of the WTA 1000 event twice in the last three years, said that while the proposal came as a complete surprise to her, the entire team was in on the engagement secret.
“I saw Georgios and I was crying half of the time, because I thought that I looked ugly, not prepared, and this is such a beautiful moment,” she said.
“I stopped everything, and I asked the videographer and the photographer to make sure that my face was not (in the pictures), just the ring, and side views and from the back, just so you guys wouldn’t be shocked by the way I looked.
“But it was a beautiful moment.”
Sabalenka was asked what she has learned about Frangulis, the CEO of global health-food brand OakBerry, and what he has learned about her since they began dating in 2024.
“What I have learned about him? He likes Oakberry a lot,” the four-times Grand Slam champion said. “What he has learned about me? That I’m crazy,” she added with a laugh.
